To mark the third anniversary of Sogyal Rinpoche’s parinirvana, Lerab Ling will hold a special event to commemorate his vision and Dharma legacy. This event is open to all Rigpa mandala students.
You can join this five-day event at Lerab Ling or live online at home and follow all the practices you wish! It will include sitting meditation, teachings, and Vajrayana practices focusing on the Lama Rigdzin Düpa ‘The Gathering of Vidyadharas,' from the Longchen Nyingtik, and other sadhana practices.
The schedule will be spacious and run throughout the day. We aspire to accomplish a tsok bum (100,000 tsok prayers) over these 5 days with generous tsok offerings, beautiful flowers and many butter lamps. You are welcome to contribute to these practices and make a donation online.
HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT?
There are two ways to join this event:
Live at Lerab Ling For Dzogchen Mandala Students only - You can book the Dzogchen Retreat and the Parinirvana Retreat as a package with accommodation. If you wish to book them without accommodation, you have to book them individually.
Online streamed live and delayed This Five-day retreat will be streamed live (Paris time), we are also looking into ways of putting some videos on Prajna for delayed streaming. If you are from the US or Australia please contact your national team about the delayed event.
The online version of this special retreat based on donation so that the whole sangha will be able to attend. We are asking everyone to be as generous as possible. You can make a donation while registering.
> REGISTRATION
> PRACTICAL INFO
START Thursday 25 August – 9am Check-in and pick-up badges: Wednesday 24 August: 4pm to 6pm Thursday 25 August: 8am to 8.45am END Monday 29 August – 7pm
CONTRIBUTION to the event - €215 (Does not include accommodation and meals)
LANGUAGES Teachings: English Translation: French, German, Spanish
TRANSPORT Wednesday 24 August From Lodève to Lerab Ling - Free bus service - Travel time 30mn Departure at 5pm from the bus stop in front of Lodève Tourist Office
Tuesday 30 August Bus from Lerab Ling to Montpellier - Travel time 2h (30€) Departure at 8.30am from Welcome Center
IMPORTANT - Our Bus Service stops at “Montpellier Saint Roch" Train Station and Montpellier Airport only. If you arrive or depart from “Montpellier Sud de France” train station, please use their bus service to travel to the airport (shortest distance) to catch our bus. Travel time 15mn
ACCOMMODATION OFFER
La Source offers a 10% discount on accommodation if you register for the package "Dzogchen Mandala retreat & Anniversary of Sogyal Rinpoche's Parinirvana". This percentage will be automatically discounted while you are registering online.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
If you have the heartfelt wish to attend this event but lack financial means, you have the opportunity to ask for support from the Study & Practice Grants and other financial help. Request financial support
STAYING SAFE WITH COVID
In order to have safer sanitary conditions for all of us, not everyone will fit in one room and we will have to use different shrine rooms. Furthermore, it’s likely we will need to wear sanitary masks in the shrine rooms when we are together.
> FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Our commitment is for everyone who wishes to come to Lerab Ling, to have access to our programmes, whatever their financial circumstances. We offer different options for those who are unable to pay the standard contribution.
DZOGCHEN MANDALA RETREAT – AT LERAB LING AND LIVE ONLINE
With Patrick Gaffney and Rigpa Senior Teachers
August has always been a special time for the Dzogchen mandala. We gather together, receive teachings together, practise together and reconnect. We connect with each other as Dharma friends and family. We connect with our Dzogchen teachers and the blessings of the lineage. We connect to Lerab Ling, our spiritual home. Above all, we connect to the nature of mind.
Over the last two years, the focus of the Dzogchen Mandala summer retreat has been to thoroughly establish the view of the Great Perfection based on the profound Dzogchen mengak teachings entrusted to us by Sogyal Rinpoche. This year, we will be turning the focus onto meditation and emphasizing the actual practice of the three immovables (miyowas) and the four ways of leaving things in their natural simplicity (chokshyaks).
These instructions on trekchö meditation belong uniquely to the innermost secret unexcelled cycle of Dzogchen teachings. They are extremely precious and sacred. If practised diligently, they can bring enlightenment in a single lifetime. These very instructions are what Sogyal Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche and all of the masters of this unbroken nyingtik lineage have held close at heart as their main practice. They are our inheritance as Rigpa Dzogchen mandala students, and we have the extraordinary chance to receive and practise them together as one mandala in the blessed environment of Lerab Ling.
This is a time for us to set aside as a retreat. And it's something we can prepare for in advance by building upon the momentum of practice from last year and the meditation we do each day. We can think of this retreat as the chance to practise the essence of all the Dzogchen teachings on trekchö we may have received, for example in the Dzogchen study programme or from Khenchen Namdrol or Khenchen Pema Sherab.
> REGISTRATION
> PRACTICAL INFO
START Friday 12 August – 10am Check-in and pick-up badges: Thursday 11 August: 4pm to 6pm Friday 12 August: 9am to 9.45am END Sunday 21 August – midday
CONTRIBUTION to the event - €430 (Does not include accommodation and meals)
LANGUAGES Teachings: English Translation: French, German, Spanish
TRANSPORT Thursday 11 August Bus from Montpellier to Lerab Ling - Travel time 2h (30€) Departure at 2pm from Montpellier airport Departure at 3pm from Montpellier St Roch train station
IMPORTANT - Our Bus Service stops at “Montpellier Saint Roch" Train Station and Montpellier Airport only. If you arrive or depart from “Montpellier Sud de France” train station, please use their bus service to travel to the airport (shortest distance) to catch our bus. Travel time 15mn
COMING WITH YOUR CHILDREN
The Rigpé Yeshé association offers a programme for children (from 6 years old) and a shedra for teenagers (from 13 to 17 years old) during this Dzogchen Retreat. As the number of places is limited, we advise you to register your child as soon as possible. Please note: there will be no Rigpé Yeshé programme during Sogyal Rinpoche's Parinirvana anniversary. More about the children's programme
Similar to last year, the retreat will be held in Lerab Ling and also shared online for those who cannot join physically—this will be live in Europe and via delayed stream for those in other parts of the world. We request that everyone commit to attending all sessions and make plans to attend the entire retreat from start to finish.
HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT?
Onsite at Lerab Ling
Online streamed live (Central European Time, CET)
This 10-day retreat will be streamed live only and cannot be watched multiple times.
The USA and Australia will offer the same retreat with a 24-48h delay in order for their students to follow in English only. Registration happens via the Lerab Ling registration system for all students following the delayed version in the USA and Australia.
You can also register for the Dzogchen Retreat and the Parinirvana Retreat as a package with accommodation. If you wish to register without accommodation, you have to register for them individually.
PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE:
08:30 – 09:00 Riwo Sangchö 09:00 – 09.45 Dzogchen Meditation and Teachings by Sogyal Rinpoche 09.45 – 10.30 break 10.30 – 12:30 Teaching with Patrick beginning with Narak Kong Shak 15:00 – 15.45 Dzogchen Meditation 15.45 - 16.30 break 16.30 – 18.30 Tendrel Nyesel Tsok followed by Additional Practices
ACCOMMODATION OFFER
La Source offers a 10% discount on accommodation if you register for the package "Dzogchen Mandala retreat & Anniversary of Sogyal Rinpoche's Parinirvana". This percentage will be automatically discounted while you are registering online.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
If you have the heartfelt wish to attend this event but lack financial means, you have the opportunity to ask for support from the Study & Practice Grants and other financial help. Request financial support
STAYING SAFE WITH COVID
In order to have safer sanitary conditions for all of us, not everyone will fit in one room and we will have to use different shrine rooms. Furthermore, it’s likely we will need to wear sanitary masks in the shrine rooms when we are together.
If you feel it is time to take a break from daily life and stresses, reconnect to nature, and recharge your batteries in a peaceful atmosphere, the packages below may be exactly what you need.
You can join us for:
A meditation break(open to everybody), to learn or deepen your practice of meditation with guidance, and in a group, or
A Practice Retreat for the Sangha either individual or in a group (for Rigpa students only) to get on with your personal practice and study.
Both options offer the support of experienced instructors, and access to study materials (book and video libraries). All this at your own pace, whilst taking advantage of the beautiful natural environment surrounding our retreat center and the company of the community.
Click on one of the packages below to get all the information.
Deepening your study and practice in a blessed environment
Wherever you are on the path, doing a retreat is an amazing opportunity to deepen your study and practice in the blessed environment of Lerab Ling.
From October to April, you can choose to come for one or several weeks or even longer. There could be a possibility to do a retreat outside this period depending on the number and types of events that are taking place at the time. Please check availability at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Before you come to Lerab Ling, a guide will help you to plan your retreat, help you settle in when you arrive and assist you with practical and spiritual support throughout your stay.
During your retreat you can choose to focus on studying a particular subject or text, accomplish the practice of meditation or compassion, accumulating your Ngöndro or sadhana practice, or focus on Dzogchen practice.
While on retreat, you are welcome to practise in one of the temple shrine rooms when they are available. You are free to join the daily group practices such as Riwo Sangchö and Tendrel Nyesel.
HOW TO REGISTER
Dates: October to April Arrival dates & times: Monday to Friday between 10am and 5pm. Event contribution: €7 (does not include accommodation and meals). This contribution covers the support for your retreat as well as administrative and other costs.
Please note - The minimum stay for a practice retreat is of 1 week
Before you register please contact the Practice Retreat team at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and fill-in an application form. Once the dates and details are confirmed, we will send you a link to register online. Please register at least 2 weeks before the start of your retreat.
> FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Our commitment is for everyone who wishes to come to Lerab Ling, to have access to our programmes, whatever their financial circumstances. We offer different options for those who are unable to pay the standard contribution.
Different types of accommodation are available depending on the season, ranging from a simple wooden cabin in the forest to a retreat room or studio with a view of the temple. Reduced rates are available for longer stay.
25% off for retreats from 8 days to 3 weeks
50% off for retreats from 3 to 6 weeks
55% off for retreats from 6 to 9 weeks
60% off for retreats of more than 9 weeks
STUDY & PRACTICE GRANTS
If you have the heartfelt wish to do a practice retreat but lack financial means, you now have the opportunity to ask for support from the Study & Practice Grant. Read more
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Lerab Ling, under the patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is one of the main centres preserving the authentic study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Founded in 1991...